Calgary

I am now in Calgary, Alberta.  At Kaylee's house.  We drove from Strathmore to Calgary, met Kaylee, went to  the Zoo, saw baby gorrilla.  It was really hot, and we were sweating like crazy.  Then we went shopping, Tori and I bought Cowboy hat's, and western shirts.  I bought a new cell, so if you know me, email me and I will give you the number.  We are finally going to be in Jasper!!!  These pics are from Drumheller.

Drumheller

Well, Tori and I are in Drumheller at the moment.  Natasha is at her sister's in Strathmore, as she did not think her leg could take it.  We were very busy yesterday, we saw the Suspension bridge, the Hoodoo's, the Atlas coal mine, the World's largest dinosaur, the Belriot ferry, the Tyrell museum, Horsetheif canyon, and Orkney point lookout.  Today we are going to the Homestead museum, and the Reptile world, then back to Strathmore to spend the night at Natasha's sister's, then to the Zoo in Calgary with Kaylee (my friend from Jasper last year).  We are spending a night with her, then on to JASPER!!!  For those who do not know, my Grandfather died on Thursday, so please pray for my Granny.

Saskatchewan

Well, today we drove from Portage la Prairie to Regina.  We stopped in Portage to find the houses we used to live in, we found one, but the other does not exist.  Then we drove to Brandon, and met with Tori's mentor from her trip to Kenya.  Tori got some pictures of her favorite baby over there, who is now talking.  Because of the time changes, we drove for a lot and it did not seem like much.  We waved to a lot of drivers (mostly big rig drivers)  and the majority waved back.  We got a lot of weird looks though.  When we were leaving the motel in Portage, Tori suddenly cannot find her sunglasses or her wallet.  We frantically search everywhere and found them in the garbage.  She had thrown them on top of a plastic bag and somehow they got into the garbage.  When we neared Regina, we saw a sign for a campground, so we drove down the road that it had said to go down.  After 20 mins of driving we gave up and turned around.  We were on a one lane dirt road and there was a cute guy in a big truck that had to wait for us to turn.  We waved and he waved and honked (we have a window that says honk if you love Alberta.)  We finally got back to the highway, and saw water slides and a big sign that said CAMPGROUND.  Boy did we feel dumb.  We got to the campground, and Tori went to see how much, and if they had any spots.  She comes out and says 20 dollars.  I said are there any available?  She say's I don't know.  So in we went, and I asked and we got a site.  Trying to set up was fun, as Tori was giggling at everything, and was almost no use with the tent, I was the only one who knew how to use the propane stove, and Natasha can't move that much with her knee (she had surgery in April).  But everything worked out.  While we were setting up, some guys were in a site across from us, and they would not stop staring, it was very un-nerving.  One left, and the other is in his tent now, but it was still creppy.  (The guy in the tent kept it locked).  Well, we are off to bed soon.  I will post more soon.  (no pics this time as I have not downloaded them yet.)

Alberta Bound

Howdy y'all
Well, we are in Manitoba now (portage la prairie).  It has been very busy and internet access has been limited, so here goes the one try that I may have for a while.  We spent a night in Sault Ste Marie, there was not much to see, so we were out of there pretty fast.  We then spent 2 days in Thunder Bay (well 2 nights in Stanley and one day in Thunder Bay.  We went to the Fort, and it was fun.  We got to try soup and cookies made over the fire.  We went out for supper, and Tori threw ice at my cleavage, so then we had a ice fight.  We got back to Sarah's and watched The Bevery Hillbillies.  Tori had never seen it before.  We left T-Bay at 7:45 Ontario time, and drove to Manitoba time 5:00 pm.  it was a long day.  We went through a lot of construction, but it was soo much fun.  We saw a lot of construction guy's, and we wrote HI on the window.  The really cute one smiled at us, and Tori took his picture.  He so knew we were taking it.  We were stopped there for a long time, and had lots of time to blast our Alberta Bound music, and laugh like crazy.  I am off to bed now, ttyl

Pirate Day / Sleep over

Well, at work on Wednesday, Hayley, Skylar and I all dressed as pirates.  It was Hayley's idea, and we liked it.  No one else wanted to dress up (George wore a few skull rings). Then after work we went for a ride (Skylar on Charly, Hayley on Hank, Kansas on Brandy (her horse), and me on Odin).  It was short, but fun.  Then Skylar, Hayley and I had supper (Hayley brought Lasanga, I brought Pea salad and Skylar brought cheesecake (he made it himself and it was good.)  We watched the first POTC (Pirates of the Caribbean).  We (the three of us) slept out in a  tent in the arena, and it was all in all a fun night.  Skylar got cold, so he had all out extra blankets, and in the morning, Hayley and I were up with the birds, and he was still sleeping, so we gave him all the blankets and went to eat breakfast.  By 06:30, he was still not up, so we woke him up with water guns.  I think that the world could use more days like that day :)

Sunscreen

So, we were painting the fence again today.  We figured that if we painted from 11 am to 2 pm, and had a late lunch, we would get more done.  Well, I put sunscreen on at 10:45, but not again after that.  Let's just say that I should have brought some with me, and taken of my paint covered gloves and reapplied.

Painting

Well today, as you can tell by my pictures, I was painting the fence at work.  I am not sure if I got more paint on me or the fence.  Here are a few pictures of what I looked like, and my water bottle.  I like painting the fence though, it is fun, and on hot days, it is the coolest thing to do.  The shirt is also dripping wet as the rain, hail, thunder and lightning started just as we were brining in the horses.  It was fun, and wet...

Storm

So after the hot weekend (I went swimming twice)  I had to leave and head back to the city (Newmarket).  There was a thunderstorm forecasted and a Tornado Watch.  There was one part in the hwy (400) through Barrie that the rain was really heavy and visibility was minor, but it was not too bad other than that.  When I reached the Newmarket ramp, I looked over and saw that the sky was really dark.  The storm seemed to follow me home,I could see the dark sky getting closer and closer to me as I drove through the city.   I reached the driveway and it started to pour.  I took a few pictures, so here they are.   The first picture is taken in front of me, and the second is behind.  Notice how dark it is.

Crazy Day

Wow,  today was crazy.  To start off with, it was 93 degrees celcius with the humidity!!  The sweat was pouring off of us when we were standing still, let alone working.  The barn walls were literally dripping with moisture, and it looked like we hosed down the floors.  The saying "it's not the heat, it's the humidity"  is so true right now.  I can't wait until Alberta where it is dry heat.  In the afternoon, we decided to paint the fence where a few boards had been replaced (this was due to a driver falling asleep at the wheel and going off the road into our fence.)  We were about as far away from the barn, you can get unless you go off property.  We were almost done (3 sunscreen applications and 4 litres of water later (just for me)), and all the horses started running, so we had to go and get them.  (They are show horses and can't run or they could get "hurt")  They were all soaked in sweat and panting, so we had to walk and hose them down.  Then after I finished work, I had to drive home on the 400 which was really slow.  The average speed was between 20 km/hr  and 80km/hr (the speed limit is 100 km/hr)  I also had to come to a stop 4 times.  It was very frustrating, even before I got on the hwy someone almost hit me.  We were at a stop light (at the newmarket ramp to the 400)  and the guy behind me was not paying attention, and had to swerve to miss me (some people should not drive) Now I am at Wasaga, and waiting for my family to finish eating so we can go cool off in the water (I have been looking forward to it all day.  

Rocky

I get Rocky again!!! He was my guide horse in Alberta, I hated him at first, but by the end I did not want to say goodbye.


Edit:  Mom wanted me to write something about my other favorite Rocky.  I am a HUGE  Sylvester Stallone fan.  I like RAMBO better than Rocky but they are still great movies.  (Stallone still has it in his 60's)

Last day

Well, now that I have talked to my boss, I can finally clarify what I said in my second last blog.  June 19  2008  will be my last day of work at Strathfield.  I had originaly decided to come back when I was done in Jasper, but things kept adding up, and I cannot deal with them anymore.  I talked to my boss and she was very understanding, and even encouraged me to find work in Alberta (where I would one day like to live permanently).  I am so glad that the meeting finally happened.  I was so worried that it would not go well.  
I will miss a lot of people there, and most of the horses :(  but I fell like I have made the right decision.